Successions

The right to succeed was introduced by the Housing Act 1980. It has been amended since by the Housing Act 1985 and the Localism Act 2011. How we deal with cases is also influenced by our own Housing Policy and our Tenure Policy.

Successions

Succession can be complex and the legal position is sometimes surprising so it can be helpful to refer to the full guidance note when dealing with a case. The succession flowchart summaries the things you need to establish before you can decide whether a succession has taken place.

Because succession depends on the law and formal council policy agreed by Councillors this guidance is necessarily prescriptive in parts.

The guidance deals with both statutory successions (where someone has a statutory right to succeed according to the law) and also situations where the Council can grant a tenancy to someone who can't succeed. You can read the full guidance covering both here

There can only be one successor even if there is more than one person eligible to succeed to a tenancy. If there is more than one potential successor they can decide between themselves who succeeds. If they can't decide the Council must decide for them. There are no laid down criteria for making this decision.

Remember, the person who asks to be considered as the successor may not be the only eligible person who may be entitled to succeed. There may even be someone who has more eligibility. You will need to consider these people when you are looking at the application.

Last updated: 11 April 2019